The Middle Distance

Who can?

To commemorate swashbucklathon's decision to extend its deadline to December 31, here's some recs. Just things I particularly enjoyed.

Fic: Sandman

Untitled by katilara. A simple but very atmospheric and eloquent story about Death's centennial day as a mortal. Which she spends with a pirate.

Art: Harry Potter

Drinking Buddy by pinkelephant42. (Snape, Draco, Squid, G) Fantastically colorful drawing with glorious textures of wood/sky/water, and a suggestion of a really interesting story in there somewhere I would love to read.

Just Give In... by sillyshy. (Hermione/Tonks, PG) Never enough femslash, is there? This one won me over with its charm, its expressions, and yes, its corsets. Gets me every time.

Saturday Afternoon Piracy by theo_winterwood. (James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, PG). The Marauders play dress-up. I adore the colorfulness and children's-book-illustration quality of this; it makes their fantasy world so much more vivid than the mundane one that surrounds them (for a certain value of "mundane" that is).

Fic: Pirates of the Caribbean (Why yes, the main object of Swashbucklathon was to piratify fandoms that suffer from a pirate deficiency. But you can't leave this one out!)

Bait for the Wind by thegiantkiller. (Tia Dalma/Elizabeth; various other pairings, R). This is a haunting and bittersweet story, not much more forgiving than the sea. But Tia Dalma has her moments of sad generosity.

Fic: Good Omens

Right Between the Deadlights by use_theforce_em. (Aziraphale/Crowley, NC-17). Yes, I've recced this one before, and I would have even if it hadn't been written for me. Just fantastically raw and funny and gritty and fascinating; in which Aziraphale finds a way of earning respect in a milieu where he is utterly out of his element. Yum. Hot. Also featuring beautifully cinematic appearances by War and the Kraken, who are not out of their respective elements at all.

Art: Supernatural

Untitled by cathybites. (Sam/Dean, R/NWS). I've never watched an episode of this show, so you know this is special if I'm reccing it. It's just...utterly...gorgeous. Stark and flowing and passionate Aubrey Beadsley homage with wallsex on a ship. You want to look at this, trust me.

Fic: Lord of the Rings

Upon the Western Wave by tears_of_nienna. (Aragorn/Legolas, PG). Yes, there are canonical pirates in the LOTR-verse. (PJ even played one in ROTK). Lots more should be done with them. This is a decent start, though it focuses more on the central relationship....but what I love is that there is so much acknowledgement of other tidal pulls on their affair. Aragorn has Arwen. Legolas has the Sea and the West.

Comic: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Slayers on the High Seas by redpiratemel. (Buffy/Faith, PG-13). OMG! Another fandom I've never been in, but WOW - the story; the expressiveness; the snark; the sexiness. If more pro comics were this good, I would probably read more of them.

Fic: Sherlock Holmes

The Adventure of the Crimson Coat by tmartian42. (PG13; gen, no pairings). The very fact that AU Sherlock Holmes piratefic exists is reason enough to rec it, don't you think? Oh yes, and it's also very nicely done!

Me, I'm thinking of writing a little bit more in the "Brag It Out"-verse, and maybe a short thing in some other fandoms entirely.

Why?

Well, for the Americans in the house, it's Repeal Day! (snagged from annechen67) The repeal, of course, refers to the ill-advised 18th Amendment to the Constitution, aka Prohibition, and its repeal means we have a Constitutionally protected right to get sloshed. Or at least protected inasmuch as I hope no one will ever be dumb enough to try that again.


It's also the divine divinetailor's birthday. Revel in the blessings, my love: the ones you've earned and the ones that were gifts, all of them. You've already paid a lifetime of blessings forward.

***

celandineb gifted me with a beautiful LOTR drabble yesterday: Propagation. Aragorn/Faramir. Love in historical context. Thank you so much, hon.

She also has a poll on fic fests and feedback that's proved especially timely for me. Geez, I'm such a mother hen mod. I ride the refresh button for feedback on most every post to go_exchange as if it were my own. I feel so happy for everyone getting their squees, and I don't want anyone feeling dissed on my watch.

My esteemed collaborator quantum_witch posted me a birthday present today! (Four days early but I needed a smile right now)

Like most of our collaborations, it's a smutty illustrated Good Omens slashfic - but she did all the work herself! (I hope she doesn't ever expect me to do any drawing, because nobody wants to see that!)

Anyway, it takes a few-sentence bit from one of our collaborations and expands it into a full story. it's sweet, it's hot, it's funny, it's just wow. Go look!

Twice-Changed World

(Aziraphale/Crowley, NC-17, NWS illustrations, etc.)

***

And happy actual birthday, tehta! May this year be a great one.

I love maggiehoneybite's birthday fic for her - in which Helob and Morliant, her slashy Tolkien-verse Giant Spider antiheroes, save their species' honor in The Middle-earth Minions of Evil Football Final!. Just brilliant.

Man, the friendslist was bringin' it today!

Multifandom recs.

Harry Potter, but with mucho mass appeal:
I'm sure most people know this by now, but mctabby has commemorated the 30th installment of the cracktastic Summary Executions series with a Greatest Hits edition. 300 luscious horrors inflicted upon the poor defenseless English language, and of course the characters we know and fuck with mercilessly love, only some of whom are defenseless. Some are almost Zenlike: "Nagini plans to take matters into her own hands." "A story told by the eyes of someone unwanted."

Crossover crack, sort of; LOTR AND The Princess Bride. mollyringwraith posts a collaborative effort: The Lord of the Rings Movie Scripts, Done Entirely in 'The Princess Bride' Quotes. Not only is this a geek apotheosis, it works so brilliantly, terrifyingly well.

Good Omens AND Harry Potter: If you're a lower_tadfield regular, you probably saw blue_phlox's gorgeous portraits of four sexy Supernaturals. But if you only saw that one, and didn't follow the link to her own lj, you probably didn't see the gorgeous portrait of the young Sirius and Regulus Black, all decked out in their proud-Pureblood vintage. They're both here.

Good Omens proper, although it's quite improper: professor_mary presents very unusual SMUT: All Mine, in which the connections between the Horsepersons and the Them get explored in a very erotic and very creepy way. Is it a pairing or a three-way? Bit of both, really. (Adam/Brian/Implied Pollution, NC-17)


Harry Potter AND Lord of the Rings: thrihyrne has written a HP/Tolkienverse crossover that's just bloody brilliant: Of Dwarves and Stewed Lucius, here. Dodges and skewers all possible thought of cliche: Lucius Malfoy and Second Age Dwarves. Also more references to needing to relieve oneself than are found in the entire Tolkien corpus.


Go enjoy, and give these geniuses the love like it's your last rear at Hogwarts!

dreya_uberwald was taking ficlet requests in her LJ a little while back. She's fond of doing crossovers and brilliant with teh funneh. I requested a conversation between two cranky, creature-comfort-addicted, long-suffering Agents of the Divine Known By Many Names In the Mortal Lands. (Most commonly as Aziraphale and Gandalf).

She's done it and it's delightful: Old Friends

Featuring many hilarious reminiscences, and cameo appearances, by...well, you'll see.

Thank you SO MUCH!